


Guns and Knives, Tricks and theives

by Love_for_infinity



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Keith has trust issues, Keith is an ass, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Maybe something more down the road, Pidge and Matt are just hackers, The rating is mainly for the language and some violence, There's a few moments of past Lotor/Lance, They work for both sides, and dysfunctional, but its in the past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-03-22 02:14:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13754133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Love_for_infinity/pseuds/Love_for_infinity
Summary: Lance is a thief from Altea. He is told to steal an important data chip from the Blade of Mamora, a well known vigilante group, and their best hacker at a small, dinky safe house. Only problem is its guarded by a short, pale, knife wielding weirdo who never leaves and eats unhealthy cereal at 3 am in his underwear.Can Lance get the chip or is this 'two week mission' gonna be a lot harder than Allura implied.





	1. Chapter 1

Lance's stakeout apartment was pretty nice - well technically it was just one of Allura's 'little side apartments', but it was still nice. His mission was pretty nice as well, better than Hunk's, who had to go into the 'Belly of the mafia' as Coran calls it. Lance's job was much cushier that that. He got to stakeout some safe house and eventually steal some pretty important information. Lance would have  _loved_ to just take what he needed now, he just needed to crack open that window, grab the flashdrive that had been sitting on the kitchen counter for _five_ _whole days_ and jump out into the wind.

Sadly, the mission was a little more complicated than that. You see, there was this guy- who was actually kinda attractive, with pale skin, long black hair, sharp eyes, and an incredibly hot bod- who seemed to never sleep and was  _always_ in the living room. Usually Lance wouldn't have a problem but the guy was weird. He had a knife on him at all times, he practiced fighting in the dinning area, he never threw out leftovers (how gross is that??) and he poured the milk in  _before_ the cereal like a  _monster._ Lance sighed and turned away from his stakeout window. That evil man was making his unholy cereal now and lance couldn't stand to look at him. He was probably going to kill cereal forever for Lance. Great.

"Did someone order some takeout for their stakeout?" Hunk? Huh, he didn't even hear him come in. He was carrying Chinese takeout and was definitely one of Lance's favorite people at that point.

"Hunk you big, beautiful man! It's good to see ya," and it truly was, Lance was  _very_   glad to have a distraction, he was so close to blowing his cover in favor of yelling at that man for ruining cereal.

"How's comin' along? You haven't murdered The Cereal Ruiner yet, have you?" They needed to find a better name for that man. Cereal Killer? Ha

"Not yet, but he tests me ever time he goes into that kitchen. You know he never throws anything out from his fridge? He is an absolute  _barbarian_ Hunk." Hunk laughed and took a seat next to Lance. Hunk was really the only person who had visited him the past week he was here. He was usually just there to get updates but he would always bring food and stay for as long as he could.

"I think I might have found a time where the Cereal Ruiner is actually asleep, but it hard to tell because the weirdo stays up doing literally nothing forever. I think I'll try to get the chip tomorrow night- and don't worry, I have multiple escape routes in case things go south. Hopefully I'll be back at headquarters in a couple of days." It felt so good to say that, he was already starting to hate Allura's nicely decorated apartment.

"Sounds good bud. Be careful though, Shiro isn't sure about this guy. He says that those pictures you gave us remind him of a kid he knew a while back. If he's right, this guy is trouble." Lance rolled his eyes. He'd already heard this before, and he was certain that this guy was harmless. He was just some weirdo who was currently ruining cereal for Lance's future.

 

 

Lance was wrong. Lance was completely and totally,  _terribly_   wrong. It had all started out okay, Lance broke in when he was certain the dude was asleep and he went straight for the kitchen and almost had his hand on that damn flashdrive. Sadly, he was wrong. Wrong because even at 3 A.m, in his underwear and eating his gross cereal, this man could still pull cknameut his knife and kick Lance's ass. He also had a mullet up close, but that wasn't really relevant and could probably be over looked.

"Who the hell are you?" Mullet-guy said lowly, his knife was pressed against his neck before Lance could even think about pulling out his gun. He was cornered between a kitchen counter and a knife. His best option was totally to use his charm to get out of this, right?

"Well that's no way to greet a guest, Mullet." Bad idea, very bad idea. The knife was pressed further into his skin and Mullet-head was looking way angrier than was necessary.

"You're here for the chip I'm guessing? Who sent you?" That dumb knife was pressed further, drawing blood. Great. Lance was probably going to be stuck here getting tortured. Perfect, this was so much better than his original weekend plans. He remembered what Hunk had said, he made a mental prayer that he wouldn't say 'I told you so' at Lance's funer-  _wait Hunk said Shiro knew him!_

"An old friend of yours sent me. Does the name Shiro-" Another bad idea on Lance's part. He hadn't gotten the full name about before he was promptly punched in the face. He groaned and grabbed his face, thankful that the asshole with a knife backed up, and mentally chided himself. _Lance you absolute idiot! Shiro said he was bad news, of course you'd get punched mentioning him._ But he was thankful for the space, maybe he could find a way of here.

"Stop screwing around. Did Lotor put you up to this?" Ugh, he got why this guy had punched him in the face for mentioning Shiro. That name was more than enough to make Lance cringe. He hated that guy.

"God no. That little rat has fucked with my team too many times. No way in _hell_   would I ever work with  _Loturd._ " Lance would shudder at the mere thought of that fuckwad. Mullet seemed to appreciate that answer. "I wasn't lying when I said you knew who I worked with. Shirogane sent me."

Mullet eyed him carefully while Lance weighed all his options for escape. He had honestly lied to Hunk when he said he had escape routes and now he was really hating himself for it. This guy wouldn't  _actually_ kill him would he? He was at a good distance, and he only had a knife. Lance had a gun. This could be easy,  _right?_

"While I like your little nickname for Lotor, how can I be sure you aren't lying to me? How do you even know Shirogane?"

Mullet cocked a hip and raised a brow. Lance appreciated the fact that this guy was a bit smaller than him. He probably would've found him a bit intimidating if he were a few inches taller. With the dark and dangerous eyes, the thick ass brows, and the fact that he could definitely lift Lance like a hand full of grapes. (Not in an obvious way though. This guy looked strong, his body seemed to naturally come in 'fun size'.) Lance would have gladly let this man crush him and thank him afterwards.

 "Trust me Mullet, no way in hell would I  _ever_ work with that asshole. I know Shiro 'cause he's on my team. He actually helped devise a plan to get the chip that is in your possession." Mullet's nose scrunched up, but whether that was at the nickname or at the fact that Shiro came up with a plan that failed in a matter of minutes,- even though Lance didn't really _follow_ that plan- Lance didn't know.

" _Don't_   call me 'Mullet', I have a name."

"A name you have yet to give me kind sir, so I have been forced to just make up a name."

Lance gave a sly grin. But it was lost quickly when Sir Mullet pulled his knife back up and took a step towards him. Lance's instincts kicked in pretty quickly, he drew his beloved gun, his body tense and ready for this small man in his underwear to come at him.  _I guess we're done beating around the bush,_  Lance thought for a second, _time to get that damn flashdrive._ There was a beat of silence that seemed to last forever.

"You can have the chip." Mullet said, putting his knife on the counter beside them and picking up the flashdrive. Lance didn't lower his gun, but the tension in his shoulders lessen.

"Did.. Did I just hear you right? You're just gonna  _give_ me the chip?" Mullet nodded and pushed the flash in Lance's direction. "What's the catch?"

"No catch. All I ask is that you think of me next time you see Shirogane, give him a little message from me." Mullet shrugged. Lance moved slowly when reaching for the chip, as if the man in front of him would change his mind mid-exchange. 

"Alright.. what exactly am I saying and who is this 'little message' from? A guy with a mullet, or a man who eats cereal in the most unholy way possible?" Lance probably shouldn't have said that while the other man still had a good grip on the chip, but whatever. Mullet seemed only mildly annoyed.

"Just say Red is looking forward to seeing him again. And now that you have that chip don't ever watch me eat my damn cereal again." 'Red' turned to leave his kitchen after that, muttering about how Lance needed to get out of his house. Lance ignored him for the most part, he was more focused on what he had said.

Seeing him  _again?_   So Shiro did know him, but why did Red want to meet him again? And why was he giving Lance the chip without a second thought? Was this guy actually good? Was he undercover for Altea? If he was, Lance needed to have a few choice words with Shiro and Allura because he  _totally_ called dibs on doing that.

"Get the fuck outta my apartment before I kick your ass and take that chip back." Red was back in the kitchen, glaring daggers at Lance and now fully dressed.  _Jesus, how long have I been standing here?_ Lance rolled his eyes and made his way out, choosing to use the front door this time.

He needed to get back to HQ, he had so many questions about that mullet wearing, cereal ruining, jerk Red. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Guess which of Altea's favorite people has returned!" Lance burst loudly into the large conference hall. There were actually only three people in the large room. Pidge, Altea's 'Tech Consultant', Allura, the leader of Altea (boy did he have to talk to her.), and Shiro, the leader of Voltron.

"Shay's here already? I thought her flight came in tomorrow." Pidge didn't bother to look up from her computer. Lance glared at her, fished the flash drive from his pocket and threw it on the table.

"Its me. I'm the favorite. Why are you even here, Pidge? You don't work here." He took a seat at the head of the table while Allura inspected the data chip.

"Well done, Lance. You made good on time as well." Allura smiled at Lance before handing the chip off to Pidge and telling her to check it out. 

"Oh hey, I think you really do know the dude I got that chip from-" Shiro looked up from the tablet he was reading on.

“Really? How do you know?” Allura was now interested in what Lance had to say as well. 

“Well I actually talked to him.” They both gave him a look, obviously skeptical about what Lance was saying.

“Ya’know how my reports said I knew the guy’s schedule and had some escape routes? I might have gotten the schedule wrong.” Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“And the escape routes?” Lance just shook his head. Allura sighed, but motioned for him to continue. 

“He had a knife and asked who I worked for. So I mentioned Shiro.” Neither of his leaders were shocked, it was a mutual agreement between Allura and Shiro. They valued a live Lance more than a dead one, and since he was really one of the only trusted field agents, there wasn't a replacement. Allura never wanted Altea’s name to be associated with Voltron. Altea was just a fashion company, and was basically a front for Allura and Voltron. No one wanted a Altea to have a bad name or seem suspicious. Shiro was okay with being the name behind the field workers for Altea. So if Lance was ever caught in a high stakes mission, he’d only use Shiro’s name as their leader. 

“So what’d he say? Did he give you a name?”

“Yeah. He called himself Red. And said he couldn’t wait to see you again. Then he just gave me the chip and sent me on my way.” Allura and Shiro shared a look. Great, the  _did_ know who this guy was. "So you know him. Who is he?"

"His name is Keith, he ranks pretty high in the Blade." Shiro was the first to talk.

"Does this mean he was undercover? 'Cause you know I called dibs on that." Allura rolled her eyes, they had plenty conversations on the undercover topic.

"He wasn't undercover, Lance. Shiro actually tried recruiting him to Voltron, but Keith was more focused on following in him mother's footsteps." 

"But that was years ago. Why is he here now?" Judging by the look on Shiro's face, there was more to the story than just 'Shiro tried to recruit him'.

"Do you think it has to do with that flash drive?" Lance asked, maybe this guy was setting a trap.

"Definitely. This drive has just about everything on it. Calls, texts, dates, drug and arsenal deals, this flash drive sets us ahead of the galra for the first time in like, three _years_ _._ You guys could cut them down in a matter of months with all this." Pidge murmured, her fingers tapping rapidly on the keys of her laptop. Lance didn't think she had even been aware they were talking. Her statement spurred Allura and Shiro into a frenzy of planning.

Lance already tuned them out, thinking of the rest of his schedule for the day. He had a meeting with Coran today, didn't he? Good, he had so many new ideas for marketing and Coran always took him out to nice places when they had meetings. Maybe he could talk him into taking them to that cool sushi place across the street. Coran had always had a soft spot for him, it would totally be easy for him to get Coran on his side. He could already taste the delicious sushi.

 

**______________________**

 

Keith liked his job. The Blade did honest work and Keith had to admit, it was fun to live his childhood fantasy of running around being a spy. He helped people and took down bad guys. He wouldn't give that up even if you tried to pay him. He had a bit of a family here as well, His mother Krolia and his uncle Thace were technically all he had and he didn't want to lose that little sense of familiarity that was there. but his last mission brought up memories of someone he used to find that same feeling in. 

Shiro was like a brother. A strong figure he looked up to, and shape himself after before he had anyone else. Shiro was a safety net he was supposed to out grow, and he thought he did. (Well, less out grow and more push down and ignore until he'd forgotten.) But when a lanky caramel skinned guy broke into Keith's apartment and said he worked for Shiro, it stirred up all the memories of a sixteen old Keith who swore he would follow him to the ends of the earth and broke that promise in favor of getting to know his bloodline. He half regrets it, if he's being honest. Voltron took a slightly more classy route of justice. One that could afford Shiro a cushy penthouse and a cover job working for Altea last he checked. Keith's own dingy apartment was good enough for him, though. All he really needed was food and a place to sleep and The Blade provided it, and probably give more if he'd ask.

Of course Keith wasn't having second thoughts just over how well Shiro was doing. It was also because of how secret The Blade was, how it enforced an extra layer of paranoia onto Keith. Keith who had already grew up looking over his shoulder because of his dad. Shiro slowly calmed that large bubble of anxiety, opting to teach him how to read a room, how to catch onto when he needed to turn on that fear and over-analyzing and use it to his advantage. When he went with The Blade, broke down that ritual and told him to always be on guard. Keith didn't want to leave The Blade forever, but he also didn't like being constricted to just his shitty apartment, The Blade's headquarters, and whatever dark mission he's assigned to that week.

Keith's pulled from his thoughts for a moment by his phone. It was a blocked number.

 **(12:12 pm)** _Do you usually punch people in the face when they say my name, Red?_

That was rather quick. Keith wasn't expecting Shiro to find his information so fast. he picked up his phone to reply.

**(12:13) _Only the particularly annoying ones. He's not the best spy if he spills on important information as soon as he's asked_ **

**(12:13) _But im guessing that just who he is no?_ **

It only took a few seconds before Shiro texted back.

 **(12:14)** _Maybe he's just telling you what he wants you to know, you underestimate him.  But he does have a large mouth yes_

Keith rolled his eyes. He's not at all surprised that Shiro would justify why that dumbass was good.

**(12:16) _I take it you got my message and my gift, and youre not just texting me out of the blue after 3 years?_ **

**(12:17)** _I got both thank you. and just so you know  
_

**(12:17)** _you don't get to sink back into your weird dark little pit._

 **(12:17)**   _youre going to lunch with me today and theres nothing you can do about._

Keith smiles, he should've guessed he was gonna be like this. They'd only seen each other in passing for three years. Both always on a mission, with no time to talk, just a curt nod and then vanishing out of sight. He supposes Shiro deserves a long talk about whats happened. 

 **(12:20)**   ** _Fine. just tell me where and i'll be there._**

 

**______________________**

 

Lance gets sushi with his favorite CEO. All it takes is a little bit of some puppy dog eyes and Coran immediately gets them a table.

"Lance, my boy, I praise your food choice once again!" The corner of Coran's eyes crinkle as he smiles and shoves another roll in his mouth. Lance smiles right back and does the same.

As they eat, Lance tells Coran about emails he's received and plans he wants to make for the company. He explains three different routes they could take with their next marketing campaign and tells him what Allura has told Lance she thinks about them. Coran follows along and puts in his own opinion its easy, laid back. Its what Lance loves about his job. His boss is so caring and tentative for Altea. Coran has always felt more like a mentoring uncle than Lance's CEO, all Lance's ideas were welcomed. Working at one of the most famous fashion companies was Lance's dream job and getting to work with Coran and his best friends made this job even better.

"But enough business." Lance says once he's tired of hearing his own voice. "Has Allura already told you about the awesome information I have uncovered?" 

"She has given me a briefing of what you found, she also told me to get used to working by myself because  _you_   will be busy working with The Blade to take action on what you've found." Coran laughed fondly and seemed genuinely happy for him, Lance drops his chopsticks.

"I'm sorry. did you say The blade? As in The Blade of Mamora?" Lance couldn't possibly have heard him right. Coran raised a neat brow.

"You were in the meeting room with them my boy, did you not hear their plan?" He finished the last of his sushi and called for the check.

"Sadly I didn't because I thought I wasn't going to be involved." Lance's shoulders slumped, how could he have been so stupid?

"Why wouldn't you be involved? My boy, you are one of Allura's most valuable spies, you are her sharpshooter. It only makes sense that you are to be added into this equation. And, of course, Keith was the most promising of Shiro's recruits, he can't be left out either. But don't worry Lance, you two will make a great team." Coran stands from the table and grabs the jacket from the back of his chair. "I'm sure of it."

For the first time, Lance seriously doubts Coran.

 

**______________________**

 

When Lance got back from his 'symposium' as Coran calls it, he was suddenly drained of any and all of his inspiration. He wasn't expecting to be in Allura and Shiro's plans. Lance may have always claimed to be Voltron's sharpshooter, the most valuable member of the team, but really he knew that being apart of Voltron was an accident. He was never suppose to be the sharpshooter. He was on a gun competing team in college, but that was really his only qualification. The reason he was brought to Voltron was because he saved a life.

He had been Coran's intern when it had happened, still in college. Lance was helping Coran settle some situation at one of Altea's warehouses, he couldn't even remember what it was (but that probably had to do with the concussion). He had noticed that one of the boxes looked off, shipment tag was crooked and showing the corner of another tag underneath. there were hardly ever mistakes on the shipping tags so Lance decided to check out what caused them to put a new tag on box.

_7355608,_

_Enjoy._

Lance wasn't an idiot, he'd played enough video games to know what that was supposed to mean. It was almost like a joke putting that number on the tag to make it look like a serial code. That number sparked a moment of panic in Lance, put four words in his head that played on repeat.  _That's a fucking bomb. That's a fucking bomb. That's a fucking-_

It took Lance only a minute but that was barely enough time. He grabbed Coran, ignoring his protests, and drug him as far away as he could before the Large room was lit up and he was thrown with Coran into a table of boxes. Lance had put himself between the blast and Coran, he could feel what seemed like burning pins in his back, his head slammed against the table with Coran's back. He passed out almost immediately. 

Lance woke up in a hospital later with his best friend, Hunk, and his sister by his bed. He was told the first words out of his mouth were 'is Coran okay?' though he doesn't remember. He also told he would have a scar on his forehead and back (something he brags about to this day.). Coran was okay, too. He was in a wheelchair for a while but he was fine, and Lance was so grateful that he wasn't dead.

Lance was supposed to have moved on with his life after that, finish his internship and hopefully gotten a full-time job at Altea and lived a happy and totally not dangerous life. But he met a certain tall, platinum haired man named Lotor, who was full of fun and crazy stories that told him all about Voltron. He taught him so many cool things, how to shoot guns outside of dumb competitions, and how to fight (albeit very poorly). He took Lance to parties and showed him off. He showed him how to talk to people, how to  _manipulate_ someone. Lance was amazed. He thrived on how fast he could get someone to open up to him and give him the information he wanted within minutes of talking to him. But he got used to it all a little too quickly. His judgment was clouded by his love of being surrounded by people, by being  _loved_  that he didn't realized he was being used.

He was brought in to meet Shiro and Allura one day though, told everything about Voltron, about how he was being used by a man he thought loved him. He was told to turn his back on Lotor, the man that had showed him a world he'd gotten addicted to. When Lance said he couldn't, they decided to use that to his advantage. Really, he was just used on both ends, gross. Lance wished he hadn't met those assholes, wished he'd never met Lotor especially.

But now he was stuck with two of those assholes as his bosses. He was stuck being a liability for Voltron. Eventually, he just decided to deal with it and at least make himself a little bit useful. So Lance took up shooting again, became their sniper. He practiced his talkative and manipulative abilities, he was used to extract information, and sent out as Voltron's ambassador with Hunk. 

It always felt like a game before, when he was just being sent out to play nice with a couple old men in suits, or having to shoot someone as a first or final warning. When he was only staying apart of Voltorn for Hunk and Coran. When it all just felt like he could just shower and sleep off the blood and memories. But now he was going to be sent into the belly of a beast he had ignored for so long. Now he felt like he was standing on the front lines of a battlefield where no amount of showers would be able to wash the blood that would be on his hands, where no amount of sleep was going to be able to wipe the bad memories. Now it felt like he  _had_ to stay. For more than his friends. And Lance-

 Lance was terrified of that feeling.

 

 

**______________________**

 

Shiro decides to make Keith go to a cafe across town from him apartment building. It was small, but nicely decorated and warm. Shiro bought him a cup of coffee and got them a table in a corner next to a large window. He pushed the cup to Keith as soon as he sat down.

"So I guess you've told Kolivan you'd like to work with us?" Shiro started.

"What makes you think that? I didn't say I was giving information so I could be apart of your little team." Keith took a sip of his coffee and ignored the knowing smile he got from Shiro. So he did tell Kolivan, but not because he wanted to work with Voltron. He did it because he knew The Blade would just sit on the information they had, and Keith wouldn't be able to live with himself if he had to stay quiet about everything he knew about the Galra.

"You wouldn't have given us that information if you knew we wouldn't use it. You also wouldn't just let us take it unless you got to have a part in whatever plans we made." Shiro shrugged and looked out the window.

"He said he'd be willing to to allow me assistance as long as we go about this respectfully and don't cause a scene or bring any attention to The Blade." Keith took another drink from his cup.

Shiro's smiled softened. "That's good. We should set up a meeting then, start making out a plan, you can see the rest of the team, too. I think you'll like them, Keith, they're good people." 

"So who am I working with, the idiot that broke into my apartment?" Keith smirked when he gave him a glare. 

"His name is Lance, and you really do underestimate him. He is smarter and more cunning than he seems." Shiro rolled his eyes. "You'll also be working with a guy named Hunk, he 's an engineer and pretty nice, and a girl named Pidge, though she's more an information and tech consultant. She's sarcastic and dangerous if you get on her bad side. I'm sure you two with get along greatly." Keith nodded along and drank the rest of his coffee.

"Feels like I've already met them, I don't think I'll need to meet them now." He prayed Shiro would buy into that, Keith hated meeting new people.

Shiro only laughed. "You'll want to meet them, they're better in person." 

 "I've already met one in person and I've got to admit, I wish I'd only heard your description of him." Keith gave him a skeptical look. 


End file.
